About

Maybank Investment Bank (MIB) and Maybank Kim Eng (MKE) operate in 11 different countries and Dalvin Kaur, regional head of legal and the group’s most senior lawyer, reports directly to the CEO of the companies. Showing the propensity to involve legal as a trusted business partner, Kaur has direct responsibility and reporting to MIB and MKE’s board of directors and senior management. She also sits on their executive committees, as well as the country executive committees and credit, credit underwriting, risk management and various project steering committees. Kaur has successfully set up the Malaysia-based regional legal platform for the firms from inception, which has grown to include a team of 20 lawyers across Asia Pacific, and is filled with ‘business counsels who demonstrate value and provide strategic, solution-driven legal advice, and is fully integrated into the business as well as deeply curious about internal clients’, according to a nominator. The team also gained significant credit in the industry for working on a number of important transactions, including the landmark IPO of Lotte Chemical Titan Holdings, the first pure-play petrochemical company to be listed on Bursa Malaysia. Also, Kaur makes it a point for the MKE entities to ensure effective and strategic legal advice by tactical engagement of counsel and a “hands-on and rolled-up sleeves” approach in managing litigation portfolios, as well as stringent and active monitoring of milestones in cases handled by external counsel. Cross border disputes gave Dalvin and her team a wider perception of the laws, regulations and dispute resolution mechanisms in different countries – which made her and the team more critical and analytical in their legal advisory to the group. Importantly too, she has been a critical resource on post-merger integration for the MKE platform, dealing with post-acquisition due diligence surprises, managing indemnity claims, a transitioning management team and the resolution of minority shareholding issues.